


Nightmares

by MidnightTyper



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Branding, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Violence, Nightmares, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:21:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightTyper/pseuds/MidnightTyper
Summary: The aftermath of Emily's captivity with Ian Doyle had certainly left mental scars. What will she do when she has a nightmare on the plane with the team?“Are you okay?” Hotch asked, trying to keep all notes of sympathy out of his voice, knowing it would only make the situation worse to the woman.“Leave me alone, Hotch,” She muttered, stumbling into the bathroom of the plane as quickly as she could.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> In this there will be mentions of violence, hence the rating being for teens and up.

To say it had been a difficult case would easily be declared an understatement by any member of the Behavioural Analysis Unit. It certainly seemed to affect one agent more than others, as noted by the rest of the team as they observed the troubled face of Emily Prentiss as they prepared to board the plane back to Vancouver for a rather long flight of six hours. None of them really knew of the familiarities between her experience in captivity with Doyle in comparison to the case they had studied, each of the victims having been branded on the top of the breast, much like the brunette agent. As such, none of the profilers saw reason to be overly concerned, figuring it was just the fact that they were unable to save any victims in time that was affecting her, as well as themselves.

She slumped into a seat away from the rest of the team, staring into the window silently as she ignored the light-hearted discussion from the rest of her teammates over drunken experiences. The beauty of the dusk seemed to be a mask for the real horrors that the night brought, a false sense of security being enforced. She rested her arm onto the crook of the window, moving her head against her elbow as her eyes flickered shut - the exhaustion from the case finally catching up with her.

Her sleep began peacefully before vivid experiences of violence and carnage caught up with her. Memories of her captivity with Doyle came back to her in particular, the smell of burning flesh appearing once again as she seemed to feel the scalding agony of the branding that the Irish man had taken his steady time with. Flashbacks of the experience kept hitting her at a lightning pace, the beatings, the fear and the pain of course taking center stage. 

“No, Ian stop!” A terrified voice burst the lull of silence that had taken over the jet. Concerned looks fell upon the faces of the BAU as they recognised the noises to be coming from Emily, who by this point was sobbing silently, her hands forming tight fists against the seats.

“Is that Em?” Garcia asked, worry clear in her voice over the call with Derek, “Derek, what the hell’s going on?”

“I think she’s having a nightmare, baby girl. I’ll call you back, okay, I promise,” Morgan replied quickly, seemingly exiting the frozen posture he previously held as he put the phone down and moved to his still sleeping partner. He was quickly followed by Hotch as Reid and Rossi opted to give her space.

“Emily? Wake up, you’re safe,” Morgan spoke softly, hands hovering as he didn’t know whether it would cause more harm to touch her or not as he took the seat next to her.

“Doyle’s dead, Emily. He can’t get you,” Hotch followed his lead opposite the brunette agent.

Upon blinking awake, a look of confusion quickly spread into a look of horror and mortification as she turned several shades paler, quickly wiping her tears away with trembling fingers. Her legs shook slightly as she sat back up into a better position than she had slept in.

“Are you okay?” Hotch asked, trying to keep all notes of sympathy out of his voice, knowing it would only make the situation worse to the woman.  
“Leave me alone, Hotch,” She muttered, stumbling into the bathroom of the plane as quickly as she could.

Nothing was spoken, no one understanding exactly what the woman had been dreaming of to invoke such a reaction.

“Something to do with Doyle,” Reid mouthed in confusion to the others on the plane, only knowing of the stabbing and nothing else. Morgan shrugged in response, quickly typing out a response to Garcia’s frantic texting before the analyst could become more concerned for her friend.

When she walked past them next, finally leaving the bathroom, they knew they couldn’t ignore it as they noticed clear signs of red and puffy eyes, as well as the lack of face makeup now adorning Prentiss.

“No need to hide the worry, you make it more than obvious,” She muttered as she took the seat near Reid, figuring him and Rossi to be her best bets of no discussion about it.

“You spoke in your sleep, something about Doyle and asking him to stop something,” Rossi informed her calmly, “We’re simply concerned about what he did to you, Emily. There’s no need to be ashamed over nightmares, after all it would be strange not to have them in this line of work,” Emily had no response, her face appearing like she wanted to vanish from the spot, her face flushing slightly.

“I still have them about Hankel,” Reid admitted, looking up at the widening eyes of Emily with a small smile gracing his lips, “I don’t think I’ve ever gone a month or two without having a dream about it. Just because it happened years ago doesn’t mean it doesn’t have repercussions,”  
“Dreams of Foyet are a weekly thing at the moment, for me and Jack both. It’s normal after a traumatic experience, Emily,”

“I still see cases from decades ago, blaming me as well for not saving victims in time from unsubs,” Rossi spoke. 

“Some of my childhood experiences come back once in a while, sometimes in the form of flashbacks, sometimes nightmares,” Derek uttered, “If you ever want to speak about anything, please know you can come to me,” Everyone was quick to agree with him in consensus with the final statement.

“Well, as I’m sure you figured out, it was about Ian Doyle, and my time in his captivity,” Emily took a deep breath before continuing, her eyes glued to the floor as she refused to meet anyone’s gazes in fear she wouldn’t be able to continue with what she was saying, “I never told anyone, but he did more than the beatings and stabbing. He branded me with the clover, and that way his mark is always on me. It wasn’t a pleasant experience,” 

Shock radiated throughout the room, none of them ever knowing that had occurred. Reid remained silent as he refrained from giving any statistics for Emily’s sake, who looked as if she wanted to leave the room at the earliest convenience. Morgan swallowed his anger, as he stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
“Thank you for telling us,” Hotch spoke up, knowing from experience that it was difficult to get any information of this kind from Emily.

“As Morgan said, if you ever need to talk-” Rossi rounded off, thankful the agent seemed to be opening up as it meant they could help her through it.  
“I know, thank you,” A flicker of a smile briefly passed Emily’s face, a silence once again filling the room, this one finally of peace.


End file.
